


Awkward, Precious Things

by orphan_account



Category: Arashi (Band), Japanese Actor RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-30
Updated: 2012-12-30
Packaged: 2017-11-22 23:24:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/615555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gifts - the awkward, the precious and the downright bizarre - Aiba Masaki has given Becky over the years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awkward, Precious Things

 

**AN ARASHI MIX CD**

She peered up at him. He was taller than her - most people were - and she narrowed her eyes. 

"A CD?" 

"I wasn't sure if you were familiar with our music." 

 _Nope, never hear of you,_ Becky though, almost sarcastically. _Arashi, you say?_

"I think I've heard a couple? 'Sunrise…'"

"'Nippon!'" He broke out into the chorus, doing a set of convoluted dance moves that made the front of his overalls almost fall open. "It's an old one, yeah. But I put some other stuff on there, like 'PIKA☆NCHI' which is from this movie we did with Tsutsumi-san, do you know him? He did this drama called 'Keizoku' which I love and…"

He trailed off, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I just thought because we'd be working together, well. We should get to know each other a little bit better." 

"Thank you. I don't have a CD that I can give you, though." 

Aiba looked thoughtful for a moment, and Becky saw something odd track across his face. Introspection or embarrassment, maybe; a plan forming, probably - and it was gone before she could fully grasp it, his face back to the slap-happy grin she couldn't help but notice on the cover of _Potato_ when she was pretending not to read it in the green room.

A smile she'd always found herself drawn to, and her fingers curled tighter around the white CD-RW with 'ARASHI SONGS~' scrawled across it in barely legible characters.

"Maybe you can just give me a smile. A smile can tell me everything I need to know, for now."

  

**BUTTERFLY-SHAPED CANDLE HOLDER**

It’s ugly. _Really_ ugly, and Becky has to make a conceded effort not to recoil from the small stain-glass butterfly in her hand. Stain-glass in garish purples and pinks, and she’s not sure why exactly Aiba Masaki has cornered her in the green room to give her a hastily wrapped candle holder that looks like it came from the worst type of 100 yen store. 

“They told me it was your birthday the other week, and because I was away –“ Aiba gestured towards the door, as if Singapore or Saipan or wherever he’d been was just beyond it – “and I saw it in a shop and thought it was perfect for you!” 

The thought that this repulsive piece of shelf clutter reminded Aiba of her was enough to make her want to weep. Just a little. 

“Aiba-san, you really didn’t have to –“ 

“I know we’ve only known each other for a bit, really.” He seemed to be mentally calculating how long in his head, and Becky had to smile. 

“About a year and a bit, that’s how long.” 

“A year and a bit! And I wasn’t sure if you even liked candles, but you have that t-shirt with a butterfly on it, and the matching pants…”

 Becky almost coughed in surprise. “My _pyjamas?_ ” 

“Yeah! They’re nice. I saw you when you arrived the other week and thought, ‘Becky likes butterflies’ and then I thought maybe it was a bit creepy because I wasn’t sure whether they were your pyjamas, or work out clothes, or if you liked short pants.” He pointed at his own legs, currently in sweatpants he’d rolled up messily and Becky again felt the smile tug at her mouth. “Like so.” 

He leaves as quickly as he arrived, waving at her with a smile she was sure was as big as her own. Later, she puts the candleholder in the top of her wardrobe - far enough so she won't be confronted with its purple ugliness on a daily basis, but near enough to the front so she always knows it's there.

  

**A KANGAROO SCROTUM PURSE FROM AUSTRALIA**

 

NINO, TO AIBA (email, 9:20pm JST)

_What are you doing the others are being boring~_

 

AIBA, TO NINO (email, 11:34pm AEST)

_Hello from Australia!! Hope you are not working too hard or are too bored (har har). Had a bit of time off and went to the beach, the Gold Coast. Lots of girls in bikinis fishing and I thought Leader would like that. A koala bit me, like you said it would. Talk soon, have to get up early to go film. Tell Jun I couldn't find the Croc Dundee DVD. ~ Masaki (ps: should I get Becky a present? She couldn't come to the filming and seemed a bit sad)_

 

NINO, TO AIBA (email, 10:21pm JST)

_Told you something would bite you. Why would you buy Becky a present, she has the hots for Jun. I ate the box curry in your cupboard. ----:))) >_

 

AIBA, TO NINO (email, 01:18am AEST)

_Why were you in my house?! She has the hots for Jun…? Okay that's weird she never said anything to me and I see her every week you think she would ask me because he's my friend and I could like set them up or something…? Does Jun like her because that would be cool, I could help you know?_

 

JUN, TO NINO (phone mail, 12:08am JST)

_why is masaki emailing me asking if i want to marry becky? why is he emailing me EIGHT MILLION TIMES_

 

SHO, TO NINO (phone mail, 12:09am JST)

_not even going to ask why i'm getting mails about becky and jun from aiba because it's late and i'm sleeping zzzz_

 

NINO, TO JUN & SHO (phone mails, 12:09am JST)

_> :)_

 

SHO, TO NINO (phone mail, 12:10am JST)

_you're such a meddler! zzzzzzzzzz....._

 

NINO, TO AIBA (email, 12:11am JST)

_Maybe you should buy her whatever your idiot brain is telling you to. Maybe you should buy her something Jun never would - I mean, something you'd buy someone who's just a friend, of course. I'M GOING TO BED MASAKI SWEET DREAMS~~~~_

 

BECKY, TO AIBA (email, 09:43am JST)

_Hihi Aiba-kun, just checking in and hope filming is going well. Stay safe and be brave! <3 Becky _

 

NINO, TO AIBA (email, 1:33pm JST)

_I hope you don't mind me telling Becky how your trip is going when I saw her today. She mentioned Jun a couple of times. Did you decide on a present? N >I>N>O>_

 

AIBA, TO BECKY (hand-written note in dressing room, 5:19pm, before a filming of _Shimura Zoo)_

_I'm sorry you couldn't come. I asked the lady in the store what was a good gift for someone who loved animals and she said that something from a kangaroo would be PERFECT because they are Australian and a purse was good for a girl so here you go. Good luck with the filming today! ~Aiba Masaki (who you work with) (from Arashi)_

 

NINO, TO AIBA (phone mail, 7:14pm)

_good choice, she already owns your balls so a kangaroo's are just a bonus >:)_

 

OHNO, TO NINO (phone mail, 9:26pm JST)

_phone died but i guess becky and jun aren't getting married and aiba's worked out he likes her right?_

 

NINO, TO OHNO (phone mail, 9:27pm JST)

 _buy a fucking charger_  

 

**A WOOD CUT OUT OF A BIRD**

 

Becky's standing alone in her dressing room, trying to find reception in the bunker Fuji TV liked to call studios. It's her first time on _Himitsu no Arashi-chan,_ her dress shorter than she liked and her shoulders on display, but even she knew she had to make a good impression on a very different audience. A wider audience, and she lifts her eyes to the ceiling in a silent prayer to…someone, anyone; but mostly she prays that her manager walks through the dressing room door at that very instant to save her from the nerves eating her inside out. Her manager, who was very, _very_ late - a mail had crawled its way through the (Becky assumes) lead-covered walls telling her to keep the dressing room door tightly closed "so no photographers or fans get a photo with you and one of those Johnny's boys before you're in front of the camera". 

"Those Johnny's boys", one of which she'd been working close enough to for over five years now, and the other four who were all standing around in the Green Room next door making so much noise she wasn't certain the walls were less lead and more cheesecloth. Impenetrable by phone signals, but thin enough for her to smile at Sho's insistence Ohno tries the fancy cheese he'd brought with him, Jun talking to his mother on the phone and Nino and Aiba arguing about something. 

"You spelt her name wrong." 

"B-E-C-K-I-E." 

"B-E-C-K- _Y_." 

"…Oh. Becky with a 'y'." 

Obviously, her ears prick up at the spelling (or misspelling) of her name. Obviously, because Aiba rarely says it without an honorific attached to the end, and she finds she kind of likes it. It sounds new, almost foreign; like it's a word he's wanted to say for a long time but didn't have the honesty to do so and _certainly_ never in front of her. 

She feels angry, for a moment, and it surprises her. Or if it's not anger, it's something else - something that's prickling in her chest, and she presses her ear against the wall to hear the rest of their conversation with her heart beating so fast it almost drowns them out. 

"Where did you get this thing?" 

"Thailand. A local woman made it for me." 

"How's Jun going to feel about you moving in on his lady?" 

"I'm not even going to - uh, Becky-chan is my colleague, and she said she liked birds. So I got this." 

 _Jun?_ Becky furrows her brow, hearing Jun himself mirror her confusion. 

"You know she has a crush on you, Jun. Masaki knows, too." Becky pulls back as Nino apparently seems to sense her location and stand right next to it. "She's cute, y'know. You two would look cute together. Jun and Becky, don't you agree, Masaki?" 

Three voices: " _Nino_." Jun's voice is confused, Sho's dangerous and Ohno's bored. 

Silence. Her heart in her ears, the anger of her being discussed by a no-good boy band like a piece of meat, the disappointment at - 

 _Come on, Aiba-kun._  

"If Becky wants to date Matsujun, I would love that." A cough, followed by more silence. "In fact, I'll help both of them find happiness because I care for them both." 

The door slamming behind Aiba makes her jump, and her manager chooses this perfect moment to burst into the dressing room with a PD in tow. 

"Five minutes, Becky-chan!" 

"Two minutes, boys!" 

Her head's a jumble, as she walks out three minutes behind Arashi. Her manager is holding her Precious Things bag, her teeth feeling almost too large for her mouth, and she marks the reaction on Aiba's face when he sees her as it's exactly when her palms begin to sweat. He notices the change in how she usually dresses, and her knees feel numb. She's hugging Domyouji and playing into the role she's been given - _Jun and Becky, so cute! -_ but her heart begins to drum like a character in a flower manga as she feels Aiba's breath on her neck. 

He doesn't say hello or 'thanks for your work' apart from the group, and when the taping has ended, she notices he's gone like a shot in the dark. There's that prickly feeling again - anger bubbling in her chest as Jun and Sho say goodbye and leave together, and she changes into her jeans with tears ( _tears?!)_ threatening to fall as her manager walks into the room. 

"Did you enjoy yourself?" 

Becky almost howls out a _NO!_ , but she buttons her jeans and pushes the angry tear slipping down her cheek away to pull her face into a patented Becky Smile. "I did! Good job, let's try and do it again!" 

"Maybe, maybe." Her manager absentmindedly points at a backpack on the chair, fiddling with her phone. "Oh, Aiba-san gave me something for you, too. It's in my bag."

And there she finds the wooden bird, her name perfectly misspelt, and she can't help but clutch it to her chest as her manager tries to find reception through the cheesecloth-lead walls.

  

**SIGNED COPY OF _ARASHI! 5X10 ALL THE BEST!_**

 

"Becky-chan! Hey! I got you a copy of the Greatest Hits CD!" 

"Oh! Thank you?" 

"Just released! And signed. I can get you tickets to our show, too, if you aren't busy and wanted to come. You don't have to, but you can if you like?" 

"It's signed…oh, that's sweet! _Ehhhh?!_ And personalised! Cool! 

"The guys wanted to thank you for _Himitsu no Arashi-chan_ the other month. And for your support." 

"Aiba-kun." 

"Yes!" 

"Matsumoto-san's signature...?" 

"Oh. Um." 

"Ah, Aiba-kun…I don't have a crush on him, you know that right?" 

"It's none, I mean, your business is _yours_ and, um. If you like Matsujun I can help! Because we're friends and in the same band and you guys would look good together and…"

"Aiba-kun."

"…Yes?" 

"I'm more of an animal person, myself."

"Oh. Me too! Which is cool, because we're both on _Shimura Zoo."_  

" _Aiba-kun_." 

"Y-yes?"

"Thank you for the CD."

"You're welcome."

 

**SALT AND PEPPER SHAKERS IN THE SHAPE OF CLOWNS**

 

In a flurry of drinking and housewarming her new place, she'd seen Aiba-kun slip in and out. Not a word, and not before leaving behind two - or three, really - things: 

1\. a kiss on the top of her head that made her body feel like it was permanently under a kotatsu

2\. a pair of ugly salt and pepper shakers in the shape of clowns (she wasn't entirely sure, but she suspected he'd found them after an exhaustive search or had even painted them himself - because they seemed to be the perfect, grotesque table-topping versions of himself and her).

 

**WASHING POWDER**

 

She's sitting in a cafe by her house, holding the washing powder in her hands as instructed. Waiting for Nino, strangely, who'd mailed her and asked to meet in a coffee house that was so well hidden it seemed to just – _appear_ in front of her.

Kind of like Nino himself, who'd managed to slip into his chair like an apparition. He was a nice guy, but a guy who had motives - a guy who liked to plant the right information at the right time, all before running off with a crafty look in his eye and a heart-breaking solo in his heart. Becky didn't know whether she loved or hated him, especially when he was fixing her with the look he was now. 

"Hi."

"Hello." His face was a mask of placidity. "Looks like you have some washing powder there." 

"Yes." 

Nino motioned to the waiter, who brought two glasses of water, a long black for him and a cup of earl grey for her. _Planned, no doubt_. He took a sip of his coffee - "hot." 

"Nino-" she paused, stirring her tea. "I'm not actually sure what to address you as, I'm sorry." 

"Nino-kun is fine. Or Nino the Awesome. I mean, we'll be family soon enough." 

That was enough to snap her head up and eye him. "Meaning?"

"All due respect, Becky, but where was the washing powder left?" 

"On my doorstep." 

"When?" 

She pouted, thinking. "After filming wrapped on Saturday."

Nino nodded. "And did you need washing powder?"

"I did, that's why it surprised me. I'd meant to get some on the way home, but I started listening to the new demos I was sent and just drove around for a while. I forgot, I guess." 

"Who did you mention you needed washing powder to?" 

"The Shimura team, at dinner…Shimura-san, I think, my manager…Aiba-kun…" 

Pennies drop and waterfalls fall, and suddenly Becky understands the look Nino's giving her. It's not nasty, vindictive or manipulative - it's honest, kind and caring and she realises just how much this man loves his band mates. 

"He pretends to be stupid. Well," Nino laughed, and Becky realised she rarely saw the smile he was currently wearing, "he's stupid sometimes, where it's most important. But he's kind, and dumb when it comes to his heart because it's just so big. It's almost _too_ big, and he finds it overwhelming to take all that love and externalise it where he wants it the most." 

Her toes feel like ice, and her fingertips tingly. There's that prickly feeling she'd once thought was anger, but it was so much more than that. Frustration, confusion, fear, and – _oh._  

"He looks at you like you're everything good happening at once. You're short pants and fluffy tigers and katsudon and ridiculous mismatched patterns. He talks to us about your eyes like it's the sort of conversation you have everyday about your female coworkers. He learns English and throws in lines like 'oh, one day I could probably talk to Becky's dad about the weather'. He shows us your PVs with this _look_ on his face that makes me want to punch him right in the nose."

Becky felt the floor coming up towards her, the blood in her ears. 

"And I've seen the way you look at him, Becky-chan. It grosses me out, but I kind of have a soft spot for you both. It grosses me out that I had to spend two years pretending to think Matsujun and you could even be a thing because, well. That isn't going to happen." 

Nino's smile broke through into a wide grin as the tears began to prick at her eyes. "Don't let him wait forever. Don't let _us_ put up with the mooning forever," he sighed. "I love him too much for that." 

As he changed the subject to the selection of cakes behind the counter, Becky just held her cup of tea and smiled.  

 

**BOX OF CHOCOLATES (TWO MISSING)**

 

"Uh." A cough. 

She turns around, and Aiba's standing two meters away, his cheeks redder than the kerchief around his neck and his hands behind his back. He's watching his shoes like they're solving all the mysteries of the world in one fell swoop, so Becky walks over to him slowly - like Shimura-san's taught her ("small steps, don't scare the animal. Make them feel safe, Becky-san") - and she jumps back when he looks up and almost wacks her in the face. 

"Becky! …-chan! Uh." 

Eyes to shoes again, and Becky's sure she hears an angry "psssttffffttt!" from out in the hallway that sounds like it came from four different mouths (that should be in four other places than the dressing rooms of NTV).

 _Typical._  

"Aiba-kun?" She pokes her head under his so they're eye to eye, drawing him back to his natural height until she's looking up into his face. His kind face, his old-ish but boyish face, and she's not so dumb that she doesn't see the way he softens when he looks at her. Well, before it changes into a devilish grin that's always followed with a playful jab she now recognises is more about pretending to be Mr. Arashi in case she sees more than he wants her to. 

"Happy Valentine's Day," and her thoughts are interrupted by a large, pink-and-red box shoved in to her hands. It's a giant heart, with frills and looking like it's stepped out of an American cliche. _Where on earth…_  

 _"_ Sho. Sho-kun brought it back from America - the chocolates, I mean - and I realise now that I should have maybe gotten something from England, because that's where you're half from, except not really, but -" Aiba pulls the top off the box, and points inside, "I ate these two because I saw Ueto Aya-san and she said you didn't like things with nuts in them, so I didn't want you to eat something you didn't like and -" he takes a breath, finally - "willyougotoseeCirquedeSoleilwithme but you don't have to, I just got some tickets and because I thought you might…"

The air seems to fall out of him, and his shoulders slump. Eyes to the ground, so she puts her finger under his chin and lifts it so he's looking straight into her eyes. 

It's here that Rebecca Vaughan realises that she wants to look into this beautiful, imperfect face forever. To have it next to hers in family photos, to wake up and have it as the first thing she sees, followed by a sleepy "good morning" - and her fingers tingle and the prickly feeling in her chest finally feels like it's making perfect, impractical sense. 

"I would love to." 

A chorus of cheers and high-fives erupt from the four outside in the hallway, and Aiba's face stretches into the smile she now knows she wants to keep in her heart - for always.

**A BOX OF MACARONI**

 

 **TO:** Aiba Masaki <aiba_____aiba@ezweb.ne.jp>

 **FROM:** Sakurai Sho  <sakurai_sho1111@ezweb.ne.jp>

**SUBJECT: Re: do you know how to make macaroni and cheese**

 

Seriously, Masaki?! I Googled this!!

 

 **EASY (EVEN FOR YOU, MASAKI) MAC AND CHEESE FOR TWO**  

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups cooked elbow macaroni _(get the good stuff, not the 100 yen shop stuff!)_

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese _(SEE: ABOVE)_

1/2 cup milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter _(NOT_ margarine!!!)  
 

Directions 

\- In a medium bowl, combine macaroni, cheese, milk, egg and salt; mix well. Don't just slap it in there and think it'll work, you actually need to STIR it and make sure it's creamy-ish.

\- Pour into a greased shallow baking dish; dot with butter.

\- Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (KEEP AN EYE ON IT)

\- Let cool, add two spoons and eat from the baking dish while watching something horrible and cheesy on the television. MOVE out of the way before you lay the moves on her, etc etc.

 

Enjoy. DO NOT group mail us at 3am after you've gotten laid, okay?!

(Ganbatte, you crazy idiot.)

\- sho

 

>>>On Dec 30, 2011 at 10:52 AM, Aiba Masaki <aiba_____aiba@ezweb.ne.jp> wrote:

>>because i asked the others and they said you would know a good recipe

>>:D :D :D :D thank chuuuuU~~~~~~

  

**SLIPPERS STOLEN FROM A HOTEL IN DUBAI**

 

He's meticulous about the slippers, sitting in rows on a smart, oak stand just inside of his doorway. Guest slippers, his slippers, tradespeople's slippers - it's almost like a science, or a performance art piece, and she finds him one morning standing at the top of the step down to the entry with a concerned look on his face. 

"What are on your feet, Becky-chan?" 

She looks down, putting the glass of orange juice on the counter. "Slippers." 

He nods, looks to her feet and back to the smart oak stand. "Guest slippers," he mutters to himself, and she shrugs, popping toast into the toaster. 

It's only two weeks later, after he's come back after a trip away to the far reaches of - _somewhere,_ anywhere but where she was - that that puzzling tableaux comes back to her as he hands her a pair of white slippers printed with the name of a hotel in Dubai. 

"They're yours." 

"Um...thank you?" 

Aiba pulls her legs up and over his lap, his arm around her waist and kisses her right where her nose curves. She knows this is his favourite place to kiss her (that can be told in decent company, anyway), because it's almost once he's pressed his lips there, he can finally become a little less _Aiba Masaki, Johnny's idol and Japanese celebrity Everyman_ and more _Aiba Masaki, dorky boyfriend of Becky Vaughan, chronic blanket hogger and lover of scalding hot ramen_. 

His shoulders relax, his smile easier; his fingers from his left hand now entangling with hers as the ones from his right knead the ribcage area right under her breast. _That_ spot he knows is her favourite place to be touched, and his eyes darken a little as she pulls one leg back to push between his. 

"Hotel slippers, because?" 

"Because you're not a guest anymore. And," he dips his head to kiss her, before whispering against her mouth, "I wanted to give you your own pair before you could buy your own, as a way of asking -" 

She sighs, almost sadly, because knows what he's asking; and they both know it's a near-impossible ask. 

"You and your slippers, Masaki." 

"Well?"

Becky pulls him to her instead of answering, because at least here, at this point - they didn't need the approval of their managers, bandmates, parents, _Japan -_ and she doesn't want to hurt him anymore than he has to be.

 

**A POLAROID**

 

They break up, because it's inevitable. 

They break up, because her manager threatens to quit with the excuse "this is career suicide!"; because Johnny himself points the finger and asks the question of "do you think you're fucking Kimura Takuya, kid? Not even _close_." 

They break up, because every one tells them they're perfect together. That they're this to each other's that, and Becky takes "time off" from _Shimura Zoo_ because it's just too hard. 

They break up, because nothing's perfect. Not late night mails with pictures of half-drunk chocolate milk from a Lawson's procured after "sneaking out~"; not slippers from Dubai that are never replaced and are stained with the brightest red nail polish you'd ever seen after a failed attempt at Aiba trying his hand at painting her toes; not copies of a _Let's Go!_ English text book with her handwriting in the margins; not framed pictures of the two of them, side by side at her cousins wedding in London, the sky a bright shade of blue-grey as they'd been able to stand in a public garden and hold hands like the lovers they were. Nothing's perfect, even though it seemed like it was – even despite bickering over the fridge being left open so the meat ended up spoilt and screaming matches over tabloid rumours and media plays; despite "I'm too tired" and angry turnovers into pillows that seemed to lift and float away the next morning as they woke up with their hands intertwined and her hair in his mouth. 

They break up, because they have to, and she opens her mailbox to find a scrappily addressed envelope with her name and no stamp. And inside, a Polaroid - a Hello Kitty-framed Fuji Instax photo, actually - of half a blurred face (part of an eye? Maybe the nose?) and a small heart smudged next to Hello Kitty's hand with a Post-It in the shape of a star stuck on the back. _Something to remember me by,_ and she bursts into angry, sad, happy, frustrated, loving tears. 

They get back together, because it's inevitable.

  

**BOUQUET OF FLURO-COLOURED FEATHERS**

 

Long fingers, moving down her torso; thumbs tracing figure eights on her skin as his lips touch the area above her belly button and make her breath come quicker as she feels the tip of his tongue just for a moment. He's bracing himself with his hands on either side of her, and she loves the way he looks at when she's like this - half cocky, half amazed and a teeny bit scared. Kind of like she's going to up and go, but with the way he's using the eye contact to distract her from his fingers making their way down south, there isn't a chance in hell she's going any where. 

The softest brush past her nipples - new, not unpleasant, and Becky vaguely remembers the feathers he'd stolen from some prop room at NTV and brought home for her with a wicked look on - _oh._ Oh. He's kissing between her breasts, his body pressed surely against hers for a moment and she can feel his want through the pants he was (very selfishly) keeping on. Pressure gone, replaced by the delicate top of the feather brushing down her tummy, followed by his lips. Across her tummy and down to her sides - 

"Masaki!" The giggling turns into small gulps of "no, no, ohmigosh" before bursting back into laughter. Her eyes half close, and through them she catches sight of the wicked grin spreading across his face. 

"You're ticklish?" The grin widens. "Becky's _ticklish_. Huh." 

She tries to regain her composure, which is hard when you're a) very naked and b) having your most ticklish areas so effectively ticked, but Becky tries. "No." Then, of course, she bursts out laughing. "Stoppppp!" 

He's by her side now, ditching the feathers for his fingertips, watching her squirm like she's a science project he was working _very_ hard at completing. "What else don't I know about you?" 

Her stomach aches from laughing, but she manages to speak: "I hate you, that…that's wha- _Masaki!_ No, stop, stop!" 

Mercifully, he stops, dropping the fluro orange feather behind him to the floor and wrapping her up deftly in the sheets. "I'm sorry, I'll stop. I just…it's kind of cool that we're still learning things about each other, you know?" 

She fixes him with a look, trying to catch her breath, before grabbing the top of his pants and zipping them down. "I didn't say stop _everything_ , Masaki. And -" Becky put her hands inside his underwear and began to stroke, causing Aiba's eyes to flutter and close - "I still haven't found out if _you're_ ticklish."

 

**A COPY OF** _**ARASHI! 5X10 ALL THE BEST!** _ **(NOT SIGNED)**

 

"You don't have this already, do you?" 

It's not easy to pretend that the case isn't stuck down with ten tonnes of MT tape she's pretty sure he stole from her house in an attempt to hide the very obvious object stuck inside, but she does her best. 

"Oh, Masaki." Becky takes the CD, looks at it with all the fake-interest she can (despite her heart going as fast as…something or other), and manages to put it on the counter behind her. "Thank you, but I am more of a SMAP fan, though." 

She has to laugh at the amazingly comedic way his face falls, and the way it goes from crestfallen to absolute shock as she holds the ring in front of his face. "I was kind of hoping for one of these from Katori Shingo-san, too." 

"How did you -" He's legitimately shocked, and she can't help it - she bursts out laughing and slips the ring onto her thumb before reaching up and grabbing his face in her hands. 

"Are you asking me to marry you?" 

His face is pretty squished, but he manages a nod. 

"Do you want me to say yes?"

Aiba extracts his face from her hands, taking the ring and slipping it on to the _right_ finger. 

"You could always just give me a smile. That can tell me everything I need to know." 

She groans, secretly pleased he remembers back that far. "So cheesy!" 

"So is that a yes?" He's grinning as he lifts her up off the ground easily, kissing the curve on her nose, her cheeks and finally, her lips. 

"Do I have a choice?" 

"Nope." His face goes from grinning to crafty in a split second, and Becky's almost sure she can see the devil horns grow from his forehead. 

"I mean, if you marry me -" sighing, he sits down on the couch and unceremoniously dumps her down next to him, "you're pretty much allowed to throw out the butterfly candle holder I found semi-hidden in the top of your closet." 

She can feel the blazing in her cheeks as he bursts out laughing. _Jerk._ "And how about the eight official and unofficial copies of Arashi's greatest hits I've been given over the past decade?"

"Yahoo! Auctions." He shrugs. "We may need the money after we go public." 

"Ah." Becky curls into him, sticking her hand out in front of them to admire her ring. "Could have been bigger, though."

"If you wanted a bigger ring, you should have stuck on the Jun Train." 

"Oh! Yes, okay, thanks. Because that wasn't 100% Nino's backhanded way to get you to…" 

"…tell you I've loved you since the moment I first saw you? Probably."

" _Cheesy_!" 

A kiss, to the top of her head, and she can feel him smiling against her hair.

 

\----

**Author's Note:**

> Unadulterated soppiness, for my bb cutselvage.
> 
> NB: As far as I know, Aiba didn't go to Australia at that particular point in time - and some other situations may have been created just to fit the timeline and make the story flow. Artistic license and all that :)


End file.
